4 N Rotor Nationals Day 1 Show & Shine (NZ)

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The start of the year is an exciting time especially when it involves attending one of best events in the southern hemisphere. The Fast Four and Rotary Nationals involves jumping on-board the very short flight over the ditch to our brother(bro) nation, New Zealand. Its exciting that just 3 and bit hours east of Australia is thriving and very different car scene to what we have here. It’s always an exciting trip. The car scene in NZ is constantly evolving. It’s only been half a year since our last visit, but history has taught me that that’s plenty of time in the ‘Down Under and Slightly East’ to cook up some new vehicles. Nearly anything could be waiting for us on the other side… Arriving at the show grounds on Saturday is like waking up on Christmas morning.. The sheer plethora of cars and modification styles is something to behold.

Azhar the event organizer has a natural ability to bring things together. This year saw Pac Performance squad among others bring over a massive contingent of of rotary powered machinery. Pac Performance is arguable one of the best builders and tuners of rotary powered street and race cars in Australia and the World. You would almost have had to have been living under a rock to have had never seen one of their customers or their own cars.

One thing that has always puzzled me, How is it there is a thriving and consistently evolving car scene in New Zealand, When Australia with just over 7 times the population is struggling?
My own personal opinion is that our neighbors to the east are far more easy going. A major problem with today’s car scene in Australia is most people are worried about how everyone else is modifying their cars. Also a good percentage of people are so quick to throw hate against anything other than their own ideas. Its not uncommon at the Nats to walk past a candy painted airbrushed autosalon styled Evo sitting next to the polar opposite full function over form track equivalent. Rather than pointing out the differences and ‘mistakes’ that spread that ‘e-hate’ everyone is happy to sit back and just admire both cars on the quality of their build and walk on. Its amazing… And something to be 100% honest that stopped me in my tracks and made my question myself as well our local scene. Our New Zealand cousins have changed the way I look at cars that aren’t modified to my taste.

We should all think back to our mothers advice. “If you don’t have anything nice to say, shut the fuck up.”

On the Saturday everyone snakes their way through the 400 odd cars on display in the three halls. The end hall is packed full of real gems! Not really fitting into the 4 n Rotor theme but given a platform to display is a whole fleet of low riders and American muscle cars. This year it was combined with a tattoo expo. Three of the most exciting new cars were this mental harlequin S15 180sx Duo and also this full drift built V8 twin turbo FC Rx7. Seeing them in the flesh parked in the hall was impressive but knowing we were going to see them in action a Mere-Mere the next day was exciting. Keep a eye out for a full feature on Speed Nation of Day Two at Mere-Mere drag strip coming soon.

Like most car shows I’m nearly just as excited to check out the public car park as the show itself. This is one show that doesn’t disappoint. In past years the road leaving the grounds has been a haven for some serious burnout action but now thanks to a heavy police presence most cars leave reasonably tamely nowadays. It’s still a great place for owners to give the crowd a taste of how brutal their rides sound as they roll out.

With the show and shine done and dusted. It was back to the hotel and out clubbing in Auckland with the massive Australian contingent that migrate over every year.The next day is the drag challenge and the first time Pac Performance, Gas Motorsports and Moits Racing will get to show the New Zealand crowd why they are the best in the world.
Keep your eyes peeled for Dragphotos coverage in the next few weeks here at Speed Nation.